As stated above, avoid Black Diamond until they fix whatever is wrong with their process.I used to love these strings. The last few sets have been a disaster. The loop on the E string breaks when you begin tightening up the strings (I have lost 1 string on each set). I don't know if there is a manufacturing problem, but it breaks right at the edge of the part where the string is twisted to make the loop. This happens with no other set of strings and it has happened on mandolins with different high end tailpieces (e.g., Allen). This forces me to cannibalize other string sets or reuse old E strings.

I hope that Black Diamond figures this out. But until they do, I will be buying my other favorites (Gibson Bill Monroe or D'Addario J67). I buy all my strings from Musician's Friend, so this negative review should have no implications for where you buy your strings. But until Black Diamond resolves this problem, I would get the Gilbson or D'Addario, neither of which has ever let me down.